A Life About to Start
by ImAliveInLivingColor
Summary: Éponine's life gets turned upside down when she loses Marius to Cosette, but wit help of one not-so-friendly Enjolras, she learns to put the her life back together piece by piece. (Highschool AU)
1. Chapter 1

Éponine stood in shocked silence as Marius' eyes locked with Cossette's as he walked into their citizenship class. After months of talking to Marius and doing whatever it was he asked her to do,he never once looked at Éponine the way he was looking at the girl sitting next to her. Marius walked over to the only open desk which was caddy cornered to Éponine's. Éponine tried to contain her frustration as Marius made googly eyes at Cossette while inquiring upon Éponine everything that she knew about this girl.

"Why don't you just talk to her, she is literally a seat away from me."

"But 'Ponine, I've never spoken to her before I don't want her to think I'm creepy!"

'Well then you should probably stop staring at her.' Éponine thought to herself.

For the rest of class Éponine had to sit in silence as she was forced to pass notes from Marius to Cossette. Frustrated that the giggling coming from both sides of her was making it different to pay attention, she completely gave up on taking notes for the day as her eyes wandered the room. Most of the class wasn't paying much attention either and as her eyes slid around the room she caught the gaze of Courfeyrac, who smiled and gave her a flirty wink. As she returned her eyes to the front if the room, she saw one student whose head was bent over in concentration and was furiously writing down every word the teacher said.

Éponine loved to stir up trouble, and she knew Enjolras was easy to rile up, so she took a piece of paper and hastily scribbled 'you're such a stick-in-the-mud -Marius'. She proceeded to ball up the piece of paper and tossed it at the back of Enjolras's head. Enjolras read the piece of paper and turned to glare at Marius while Éponine nonchalantly pretended to take notes. Marius noticed Enjolras's glare just as Éponine was handing him another note from Cossette. Marius sat looking very confused at Enjolras and completely forgot about the note in his hands.

'Hmmm, two birds with one stone. That worked out well.' Éponine thought as she failed to suppress a grin at Enjolras's stern glare and Marius's facial expression, which was similar to that of a lost puppy.

Éponine was so amused she failed to suppress a giggle, which made the teacher slam a ruler against his desk and yell at the class to pay attention. Éponine's face grew red in embarrassment as she hastily returned to her notes.

As the entire class was getting ready to leave Éponine hurriedly packed up her stuff, hoping to get away from the class before Marius asked her anything else about Cossette. As she rushed out the door, she ran smack into Enjolras who was blocking her exit.

"Why did you feel the need to throw a paper at me in class?"

"I saw you with that evil smirk that you get whenever you tell Joly you think you have a cold, or when you go up to the girl Courf is flirting with and tell her that he is your boyfriend."

" Fine, you caught me. I was just bored, also you glaring at Marius made him stop passing notes, so it was a win win situation."

"We'll it wasn't a win for me, I missed an entire slide worth of notes!"

Éponine had forgotten how huffy Enjolras could get about schoolwork. She gave him one last smirk as she left the class to go back to her dorm.

In physics Éponine was forced to hear Marius rave about Cossette, but at least he was talking to her, so Éponine tried to tell him everything that she knew about the girl.

"She's new, she just moved in this year, I think she got switched to citizenship class because her schedule was different at her old school. She is in my French class, and Madame Fantine made us all tell about ourselves to practice adjectives and working on complete sentences."

"How did I never notice her 'Ponine, she is like an angel fallen from heaven!"

" You haven't even spoken to her yet!"

"But she writes her letter i's with hearts instead of dots!" " Do you know where her locker is? Can you give her this note, please!"

As much as it broke her heart that Marius seemed infatuated with this girl, Éponine agreed to take her the note, because that is what a good friend does.

At lunch a couple of days later, Marius handed her what seemed like the hundredth note to give to Cossette.

"Why don't you just give it to her yourself." Grantaire told Marius. Grantaire was always quick to stand up for Éponine, and she appreciated it a lot.

"As romantic as love notes are, it is getting a bit out of hand." Jehan spoke up too

"You talk about the girl enough. Why don't you just talk to her." Shouted Combeferre

"Éponine doesn't mind, plus Cossette told me she thinks the notes are cute. I was thinking about getting her flowers, what do you guys-"

"Please tell me he isn't talking about Cossette again" Enjolras said as he sat his tray on the table

"What else does he talk about anymore?" murmured Joly

"That's it I'm putting a stop to this. Marius no one cares about your lonely soul, now stop talking about your girlfriend and focus. We have to try to get an assembly together for a couple of weeks from now. The fact that people walk around saying that Asians are bad at driving or that women belong in the kitchen is not okay. We have to try to stop the stereotyping and prejudice in our community!"

"Well way to go from one boring topic to another. How about something interesting; I'm gonna throw a party this weekend!" Grantaire exclaimed

Grantaire was more than a little fond of partying and he was always up to throwing a party.

"Awesome" yelled Courfeyrac

Éponine was happy the subject was off Cossette as she listened to the guys make plans for R's party. She zoned out for awhile, just staring at Marius and fantasizing about how wonderful it would be to date him.

The bell rang for lunch to end and Marius rushed over and handed the note to Éponine.

"Thanks for doing this for me Éponine, I really owe you one" he said, and he gave her a quick hug before going to his next class.

Éponine felt elated and heartbroken at the same time as Marius wrapped his arms around her. He may not have thought of her as more than a friend, but being his friend was better than being nothing to him.

The week went on and with each day there was a growing excitement for the party at Grantaire's this weekend. After school on Friday the guys came into the café Musain where Éponine worked. Grantaire looked like he would rather be running laps around outside instead of sitting down when Éponine came to take the boys orders. Enjolras tried to turn the chaos of the room into some semblance of order so he could try to talk the the group about the assembly next week, but between Marius's ramblings about Cossette, Courfeyrac talking about how he had invited the entire cheerleading squad to R's party, and Joly attempting to write a poem for Musichetta, not even the great and powerful Enjolras could rein in the group. After their shift was over, Éponine decided to stay and hang out with the guys.

It was getting late, and most of the guys had left except for Enjolras , who stayed at the café every spare moment he had, and Marius. Marius got up to leave and handed Éponine yet another note to give to Cossette. Marius left and Éponine was overcome with curiosity to see what the two had been talking about. The old saying says that curiosity killed the cat, well curiosity also broke Éponine's heart. She unfolded the note and saw that it wasn't the first time they had used the paper, but there was an entire conversation between them. On the note there was writing from Marius saying that he loved Cossette and a note from her that said it back. Not only that but they talked about meeting up what would have been at least yesterday on the note. Not only had they been making Éponine pass notes for them, but they had already fucking met each other in person. The notes were stupid and useless.

Éponine tried to focus on the anger so as to ignore the part of her emotions that were utterly heart broken. They had only known each other for a week, how is it okay to call it love. Even through the anger Éponine felt the sadness hit home and her eyes were blurry with tears as she stood up and told Enjolras that she had to go.

Éponine barely made it out the door of the café before she burst into tears. She walked over to the bench and felt her knees go weak before she sat down and brought them to her chest and cried. There was a crash of thunder before the skies decided to open up, and it poured. Éponine couldn't care less though, how could rain matter, when the one person that she cared about would never return her affections.

Éponine thought back to when they met in middle school. Éponine and her family had just moved into the area after the house where they were living before had been foreclosed. Her old neighborhood hadn't been what most people would consider friendly, but after pulling a few strings, and most likely pulling out a few knives, her father managed to get a house, which although trashy, was at least in a neighborhood where you could go out after dark without carrying a weapon. On the first day of school, Éponine literally ran into Marius while walking to the bus stop. He had apologized profusely and picked up all of her books. When he noticed she was a new student, he offered to show her around and he introduced her to all of the Amis. Éponine owed Marius all of her friends and probably her entire social life, because Éponine was really shy around new people.

It may not seem like a lot, but it was the first time in years someone had been nice to her. Éponine had been a social outcast at her last school. She was the poor girl who had hand-me-down clothes. Everyone that stopped by the inn that her parents ran had liquor in their breath and had been handsy with Éponine ever since she had hit puberty. Although Éponine learned to be tough and stand up for herself it really moved her when Marius had been kind to her. It hadnt taken long for her crush to turn into an obsession. She lived for the day that Marius would notice her as more than a friend. But now because of Cossette, she had no chance with him.

Éponine was startled out of her flashback when she felt a hand on her back. Turning around and getting ready to give the person who touched her a hard knee to the groin, she looked up and was surprised to see the marble man standing behind her.

"What the hell Enjolras you scared the shit out of me" Éponine said while trying to wipe the tears off the face so that Enjolras didn't notice she had been crying.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah' why wouldn't I be?"

"We'll for starters your eyes are bright red and there is snot coming from your nose."

"I'm fine, it's just... Ummmm alergies."

"I'm not dumb, but if you don't want to tell me that's fine, but at least let me give you a ride home, it's pouring."

Éponine was starting to mutter a response when a loud crack of thunder sent her jumping off of the bench. Enjolras decided that he wouldn't take no for an answer and grabbed her arm and guided her to his car.


	2. Chapter 2

The car ride was silent and awkward with no talk further than a few sniffles from Éponine. Eventually Enjolras turned on the radio, and Éponine was amused to listen and to find out he had a tendency to listen to a combination of punk rock music and show tunes. Éponine was about to make a comment about it to break the silence when Enjolras turner to her. "I don't mean to sound like a cab driver, but I know you live somewhere near Marius. What street do you live on?"

Éponine's body froze up she suddenly realized how much of a mistake she made by letting Enjolras drive her home. No one in the Les Amis de l'ABC knew where she lived except for Marius and Grantaire. She had no desire for them to know where she lived. They all knew that she was poor, but none of them had seen her lifestyle up close, and she planned on keeping it that way.

It only took her a moment to think of and address to give him, "18 Cherry Street." she said, and the car ride returned to silence. When Enjolras got close to the house she regretted giving him the address she did, because now she had to deal with 'Parnasse.

'Parnasse was only two years older than Éponine, but he owned a house, and actually made a lot of money despite being fresh out of high school and having no skills that a company would want. It turned out con artists could make pretty good money without a higher education.

Montparnasse had been a family friend of the Thernardiers since Éponine was a child. Her father had taken 'Parnasse under his wing when Éponine refused to be a distraction while her father pickpocketed people. No one could turn down a child asking for help to find his or her parents, and while they were busy talking to the child Thernardier would grab the person's wallet take anything that seemed worthwhile and then slip it back into the person's handbook or pocket before they noticed anything. Éponine realized that what they were doing was wrong from a young age, and she would refuse to help her father even if she faced unpleasant consequences.

Enjolras pulled into the driveway and Éponine got out of the car. "Are you sure you're okay? I can call Grantaire if you want. Not that I won't help, but I know you don't think of us as good friends. Not that we aren't friends. You just know what I mean. Is there anything I can do to help?"

Éponine couldn't figure out if it was endearing or annoying that Enjolras was so flustered. He was an amazing public speaker, but he didn't handle one on one conversations well. "I'll be fine. Thank you for the ride"

"It's no problem."

Éponine strolled into 'Parnasse's house hoping with every fiber of her being that he wasn't there. She had no such luck when she heard his voice from living room.

"So 'Ponine, what brings you here? Finally decided to take me up that offer to go on a date?"

"I've told you Montparnasse I don't date criminals."

"Criminal is such a harsh word, I prefer charlatan if you will. It's their own fault for being so gullible, but you haven't answered my question. What brings you here?"

Éponine fumbled through her mind for an excuse, but she couldn't find anything.

"Looks like you've gone through hell, so what is it? Is it your precious Marius? I told you nothing good would come from hanging around him. He's too good for you. Accept it, none of your so-called 'friends' at school want you around."

Éponine couldn't control the wince at how close the words were to true.

"Aaaah so that's it isn't it. Marius finally broke your heart, but what brings you back to me? I certainly know that I'm not the person you'd come to for advice, so just tell me what brings you here?"

"I didn't want them to see my house." Éponine finally answered.

"Too afraid of them rejecting you once they saw that dump. Face it 'Ponine, I know you better than they do. They don't understand our way of life. Don't worry I won't tell your secret, but you'll have to do me a favor. Gueulemer's got himself locked up on assault charges. Idiot can't act like a rational human being once he's got a few drinks in him. I'm a little bit too well known around there to go get him, and we need to have a little chat. I'm supposed to be watching him, and I can't have your father hearing that he's in jail again. All I need you to do is bail him out and hand him a note."

Éponine was relieved. As far as requests from 'Parnasse go, this was one of the better ones. She grabbed the note and money from his hand and headed towards the door.

"One more thing 'Ponine. A kiss for good luck. There's a big job tomorrow and you never know what might happen."

This was more of what Éponine had been expecting. Montparnasse had been bothering Éponine for months now. They had dated when they were both younger, but 'Parnasse had been a possessive asshole, and Éponine broke up with him before things got very serious. That didn't stop him from doing anything he could to try to take advantage of Éponine. "Not going to happen 'Parnasse."

"Fine then, I'm sure all of your friends would love to hear about your father's profession."

Éponine attempted to storm past Montparnasse and leave, but he grabbed her by the waist and spun her around, violently shoving her face into his. After a few seconds while Éponine remained completely unresponsive, he let go of her.

"Wasn't that bad now was it? Don't forget the note."

Éponine grabbed the note as left the door feeling worse than when she arrived, if that was possible. She walked out of the house and towards her street. She didn't even care that it was raining any more. Why did she let Enjolras get her into his car. It was his fault she had to face Montparnasse. She knew she had to stop at the courthouse before she went home, but it wasn't a big deal. She had been sent with money to get Montparnasse and the rest of her father's gang of thieves before. She had a fake ID claiming that she was 19, so in the eyes of the courthouse, she was a legal adult. She turned towards the downtown, and started walking She knew she had to hurry to get there and back to her house before dark.


End file.
